Code Henry

The ministerial officer is required to declare the capacity giving the right to the opponent, and all grounds he may allege against the marriage, under penalty of nullity and even interdiction.

The seneschalsy, within ten days, shall rule on the motion to lift the opposition; in case of appeal, it shall be decided within ten days of the summons.

All persons other than the father and mother, if the opposition is rejected, may be sentenced to damages and interest, and even corporal punishment, if it is proven that the opposition was made with the intent to harm the parties contracting marriage.

To feed, maintain, and raise their children; such is the obligation that spouses contract by the sole fact of marriage; and the children, in their turn, must, in proportion to their means, provide aid, assistance, and sustenance to their father and mother, if they find themselves in need.

The reciprocal duties of spouses are fidelity, aid, and assistance. The husband is required to protect his wife, and the wife owes obedience to her husband. If, on the one hand, it is the wife's duty to follow her husband's fortunes and share his dwelling, on the other, the husband is obliged to make her life agreeable and to provide for her needs, as far as his means and industry allow.

A woman of legal age may appear in court, whether as plaintiff or defendant, and appoint an attorney, without her husband's authorization, when she is not in community of property, or is separated as to property, or is a public merchant, and when she is prosecuted in criminal or police matters.

The right to give, alienate, mortgage, or acquire, whether gratuitously or for consideration, without the husband's signature in the act or his written authorization, is permitted to the woman of legal age when she is not in community of property or is separated as to property.

In the case where the husband refuses to authorize his wife, in community of property, to execute an act, the wife has the right to summon her husband before the seneschalsy, which shall grant or refuse authorization after the husband has been heard or duly summoned.

In commercial matters, obligations contracted by the wife, authorized by her husband to conduct commerce, are binding upon him, if they are in community of property.

The authorization required by the above article must be posted at the hearing room of the seneschalsy and the admiralty of the spouse's domicile.

The wife of legal age of a man sentenced to afflictive penalties may, during the duration of said penalty, bring legal actions, defend in court, and contract, without her husband's authorization; but if the wife is a minor, she may do so only with judicial authorization. The same shall apply in case of the husband's absence or infirmity.

Any general authorization, even stipulated by marriage contract, is valid only with respect to the administration of the wife's property.

The wife, the husband, or their heirs alone have the right to raise nullity on grounds of lack of authorization.

The right to make inter vivos gifts and to make a will without the husband's authorization is granted to the wife.

The dissolution of marriage takes place by natural and civil death, insanity, fury, imbecility, and incurable contagious diseases, such as leprosy, the bouton, and lepra.

A second marriage may not be contracted, by the man or by the woman, until one full year after the dissolution of the first.

The father may not contest the legitimacy of a child conceived during his marital union.

The proofs of filiation of legitimate children derive from the birth record inscribed in the civil status registers; and in its absence, from the constant possession of the status of legitimate child.

Whether the father and mother recognize their natural children before their marriage, or stipulate the recognition in the very act of celebration, the latter are, by right, legitimated, and inherit from their father and mother in the same proportions as if they had been conceived during the marriage.

The father and mother have the right to legitimate even deceased children who left descendants; in this case, the descendants of the latter inherit the rights of their deceased father and mother.